HVAC systems are used to provide heating, ventilation and/or air conditioning to an environment or space provided within building interiors. One type of HVAC system is an under-floor HVAC system. An under-floor HVAC system is used as an alternative to an overhead or in-wall system, providing for the passage of conditioned air beneath a floor (typically a raised, accessible floor system).
Current under-floor HVAC systems have several drawbacks as they often require: costly fans, coil and filter units; two separate systems for heating and cooling; a relatively large number of manual or automated individual floor diffusers that can be particularly cumbersome or ineffective for perimeter exposures; and/or partitioned under-floor plenums.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an HVAC system which can be conveniently and readily installed in a number of locations, environments and configurations including in particular under-floor applications. It would further be advantageous to provide an HVAC system that can provide for modularity in the construction and assembly of the system. It would further be advantageous to provide an HVAC system that can provide effective supply air plume characteristics under a variety of thermal load conditions. It would further be advantageous to provide an HVAC system that can activate air flow to different segments of the system in response to different thermal or ventilation needs. It would further be advantageous to provide an HVAC system that can be easily installed after the installation of a raised floor system and provides flexibility for relocation or reconfiguration. It would further be advantageous to provide an HVAC system that can reduce the number of components and floor plenum space involved and can provide convenient access for maintenance of its components. It would further be advantageous to provide an HVAC system that can employ a combination of floor-mounted, sill-mounted or other architecturally compatible air diffuser arrangements. It would further be advantageous to provide an HVAC system that can activate air flow to different segments of the system in response to different thermal or ventilation needs. It would be desirable to provide a system and method that provides any one or more of these or other advantageous features in a variety of configurations.